WE ALL WANT THE SAME THING:WHAT IF…IT WERE A FUNDED STATE MANDATE THAT MUSEUMS, LIBRARIES, AND SCHOOL SYSTEMSCOLLABORATE WITHIN COMMUNITIES TO INSPIRE

CHANGE?

Alexandra Nicholis Coon ancoon@massillonmuseum.org

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. —Helen Keller

Talking Points

� Museums & Libraries as Leaders in Community Collaborations

� City Government as Leaders in Collaboration

� Museum & School Partnerships

� County Arts Councils Stimulating Economic Growth and Academic Achievement

� Advocacy!

We all want to:

� educate the community.

� provide a valuable service.

� draw visitors.

� Inspire.

� be respected and viewed as professional.

� make a difference.

“Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

So, why compete?

� Competition stretches our already strained resources.

� Rely on local talents.

� Solidarity and colleagueship will carry us SO much further and yield greater success.

Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. —Henry Ford

Coming Together

� Initiating collaboration –

� Project based

� Personality based (prior relationship)

� Proximity based

� Identifying a Common Need or Interest

� Get to know your community –

� Embed yourself

Dig in – become part of your community!

Staying together is progress

� Staying together

� Reinforce appreciation

� Celebrate and promote one another

� Long-term relationships built on trust work best

� Be sure you have committed partners.

Working together

� Is necessary to grow a community.

� Requires a holistic approach.

� Demands an understanding of the partners’ capabilities.

� Requires shared responsibility and accountability.

The Big Read

The Big Read

The Big Read

The Big Read: One-Act Plays

The Artful Living Program

� was designed by Massillon Museum in 2008 w/goal of interrupting the cycle of intergenerational poverty.

� Provides cultural experiences to underserved populations.

� Is working to gather data that demonstrates correlation between the study of fine arts, mathematics and literacy.

The Artful Living Program

� Is a collaborative of community arts organizations in Canton and Massillon consisting of: Massillon Museum, Massillon Public Library, Ananda Center for the Arts, Canton Symphony, Canton Museum of Art, Canton Ballet, Canton Players Guild, and ArtsinStark.

The Artful Living Program

� Arts lessons enhance curriculum taught by the classroom teacher, and meet OH Dept. of Education Early Learning Standards.

� Program recognizes importance of parent involvement, and has a Family Session element.

The Artful Living Program: Measurable Impact

� Program generates data using YCAT and TCAM tests—as well as anecdotal evidence—which in 2012-13 determined preschool children in Massillon City Schools achieved significantly higher in creativity, math, and literacy.

� Is funded by a number of foundations, private donations and…

Canton and

Massillon City

Schools!

City of Akron Holocaust Arts and Writing Contest

� Teaching and commemorating the lessons of the Holocaust since 1987, with an annual arts and writing contest beginning each October and ending with an awards ceremony and commemoration program the following April.

Make connections

� Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, Dr. Nelly Toll and Billy Soule at Holocaust Commemoration, April 29, 2014

Playing Dominos with a Friend

1943, Collection of Nelly Toll

Create memorable experiences

Create memorable experiences

ArtsinStark: SmArts Program

� The SmArts Grants Program encourages K-12 classroom teachers in all disciplines to integrate the tools and processes of the Arts into daily learning.

� SmArts encourages educators to reach out to the Arts community as a resource for all students to learn and grow.

� The focus of SmArts is to engage students and allow them to find meaning and make linkages across content areas.

ArtsinStark: SmArts Program

� Uses the arts to “supercharge learning”

� Led to 23% increase in 4th grade test scores in Massillon Schools; 100% passing rate in both reading and math.

� Funded 100 projects in 50 schools for 15,000 students since 2007.

Advocacy: Your voice matters!

Advocates for Children and Education (ACE)

Connecting with City Officials and Legislators

Get to know your legislators

� Invite them to attend your events or tour your facility.

� Send them written updates about your fabulous projects, awards and honors.

� Don’t be afraid to ask them for help: writing letters of support for grants, eg.

Participate in Advocacy with your state, regional, and national organizations

Alex Coon, Cristina Savu and Christine Shearer tour the Congressional Art Exhibition

(February 2013)

E-Advocacy and Social Media

� Friend your Legislators on Facebook.

� Follow them on Twitter

� Sign up for e-newsletters

� Connect on Linked-In

Institute of Museum & Library Services

� IMLS promotes museums and libraries as strong community anchors that enhance civic engagement, cultural opportunities, and economic vitality.

� In FY 2013, IMLS awarded $58.5 million in grants to support museums and libraries as strong community anchors.

IMLS funding

IMLS Issue Brief prepared by the American Alliance of Museums:

� Elementary and Secondary Education

� We support efforts to promote school museum partnerships, recognize the role that holders of advanced degrees in museum education can play in enhancing students; learning outcomes, require greater collaboration between the Dept. of Education and the IMLS, allow museums and other qualified nonprofits to directly compete for teacher professional development funds, and retain a set of core academic subjects that include the many subject areas in which museums help teach the curriculum, including English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography.

Some Museum Facts (provided by American Alliance of Museums)

� Museums bring more than 18 million instructional hours to children in a variety of disciplines.

� Encourage all schools and school districts to take advantage of museums as unique educational resources and to facilitate museum visits to help teach the curriculum.

Unintended Consequences of No Child Left Behind

� More than one third (36 percent) of all school districts have cut elementary social studies instruction by an average of 76 minutes a week. Science instruction is down at 28 percent of the schools, and arts education is down at 16 percent of the schools.

� As a result, museum visits and instruction related to art, science and history (among other subject areas) have decreased.

Museums are critical partners in education

� Each year, museums spend more than $2 billion on educational programming and provide millions of hours of instruction to students and teachers, including the following:

� Educational programming for students

� Museum staff programs in schools

� Traveling exhibits in schools

� Pre-service teacher development

� Professional development for teachers

� Approximately 55 million museum visits each year from school students

� The typical museum devotes three quarters of its education budget specifically to K-12 students. In 2010, despite a year of economic stress, 78% of museums maintained or expanded the resources devoted

to K-12 education (Alliance study).

American Alliance of Museums

� Aam-us.org

� Advocacy

� Issue Briefs

Continue to build relationships

Ohio Emerging Museum Professionals

outing at MassMu, March 2014

Engage young audiences

Walsh University Digital Photojournalism students installing

Studio M exhibit at MassMu, April 2014

Continue to build new relationships

Demonstrate you CARE about the community you serve

Don’t lose sight of your mission

Artful Living Program, 2014